MOVIES

'Speed Racer' star Scott Porter: Geek?

By Jeff Salamon
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, May 09, 2008

"Speed Racer" claims plenty of accomplished actors — John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox and Christina Ricci, for starters. But only one calls Austin home.

That would be Scott Porter, probably best known for playing Jason Street, the high-school quarterback who was paralyzed in the first episode of "Friday Night Lights." Porter, who was recently seen in "Prom Night" and just finished filming the Austin-shot Lisa Kudrow movie "Will," is a savvy choice to play Speed Racer's older brother Rex — not only is he a fine actor, he's a self-described comic-book and science-fiction geek who grew up watching "Speed Racer" on television.

We spoke to Porter last week by phone. Later that evening, he was heading off to an advance screening of "Iron Man," which he was very excited about.

Austin American-Statesman: You're a star of one of the most realistic shows on TV, but this movie is based on a cartoon series. As an actor, what's the difference between doing a "Friday Night Lights" and doing a 'Speed Racer'?

Scott Porter: It's a huge difference. You're talking about a television show that we shoot episodes in five days with three handheld cameras, there's no rehearsal, no marks, and we just get off the page and play. But then you talk about a movie that has a $100 million budget, that has two of the most focused directors in the business, it's almost completely green screen, and everything has to be so particular and so perfect in execution. So on "Friday Night Lights" we're as sloppy and messy and dirty as you can get, and I love it. ... (On the other hand,) if you're going to stay in this business you're going to have learn how to act on green screen; you're going to have to learn how to act in these huge effects movies. So I'm just really blessed that I got a chance this early in my career to get acclimated to it.

You're known as a pretty big comics fan. 'Speed Racer,' obviously, is rooted in manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese animation) culture. Have you read much manga?

I haven't read a ton of manga. I read some when I was living in Japan. (From 2003-2004 Porter was a singer at Tokyo Disneyland.) And I've read "Eyeshield 21," which was recommended by my friend Masi Oka from "Heroes," so I've picked up some manga. But I'm so used to the way that they tell stories in American comic books that I never really made the jump.

The Wachowski brothers are pretty big comic book guys themselves. Did you bond with them on the set over comics?

I did; I bonded with them over comics and science fiction and films and video games. They're big fanboys, just as much as anybody else. They're just lucky that they get to control the world that they used to play in.

I don't know if it was a bigger draw for me to do "Speed Racer" or work with the Wachowskis. I would almost lean toward saying working with the Wachowskis was the bigger dream because growing up on American comics, it's kind of like — "X-Men! Avengers! I wanna play Hawkeye! I wanna play Captain America! I wanna play Flash!" Those are the heroes I've always wanted to play. So "Speed Racer" came second to working with the Wachowski brothers.

Ten years ago, being a comic book fan in Hollywood probably would have had you pegged as a geek. But with all the superhero franchises these days, and writers like Brian K. Vaughan, Damon Lindelof and Joss Whedon crossing back and forth between the two media, that isn't the case anymore. Do you feel lucky that you've broken through at a time like this?

The weird thing is now that it's becoming popular there's this huge backlash and everybody's really testing each other to see if you're a true geek or a true nerd. I passed the test — the Wachowskis kind of ribbed me for a little bit. I don't know if it's because of the fact that I played football in high school or the characters I play or the way I look, but a lot of people tend to not believe that I'm as into it as I am.

But this is just a great time. I think society is kind of changing the way they look at us, which is nice.

Did Matthew Fox divulge any secrets about what's going to happen on 'Lost'?

He can't. It's tough being in my position because my good friend Masi on "Heroes," all he can say is, "I'm a cast regular." It's mandated by NBC; that's all he's allowed to say about the upcoming season. Between him and Matt Fox I'm just going crazy: I wanna know, I wanna know. If I knew somebody who worked on "Battlestar Galactica," then I'd be in trouble.